Lead Full-Stack Engineer (Node/Sails + Vue/Nuxt) (UK Remote)

PlannerPal is an AI-powered platform transforming how financial advice and wealth management are delivered. We help advisers and their teams save time, reduce admin, and deliver better client outcomes by automating meeting notes, documentation, and CRM updates. Trusted by hundreds of advisory firms, PlannerPal is reshaping the advice industry – improving efficiency, compliance, and data quality across the client journey. The company recently signed enterprise contracts with both a top-10 and a top-5 UK wealth management firm, further establishing its position as a key technology partner in the sector. Recognised by the Financial Times Adviser as one of the Top 3 AI tools for financial advisers, PlannerPal is a UK-based wealthtech company backed by venture capital investors, with deep experience in financial services, technology, and AI. The platform is scaling rapidly through numerous industry technology partnerships, including a strategic AI partnership with Iress Xplan.

We’re now looking for a Lead Full-Stack Engineer (Node/Sails + Vue/Nuxt) to take ownership of solution design and lead delivery across a distributed engineering setup. You will:

Own the technical design and architecture of key features and integrations Act as a technical partner to key customers and strategic partners, co-designing new product capabilities Lead and coordinate the work of a team of engineers in India Remain hands-on in development ~50% of the time

• This role reports directly to the Chief Product and Technology Officer and offers the opportunity to work closely with the founders at a defining stage in our growth.

Tasks

• Solution design & architecture

Own the end-to-end solution design for core adviser journeys – including user authentication, meeting recording and transcription, management of user preferences, and integrations with 3rd party tools used by advice firms (e.g. CRM systems, Microsoft Office, corporate SSO providers).

• Translate product requirements and partner/customer needs into clear technical designs, architecture diagrams, and implementation plans.
• Make pragmatic decisions about trade-offs (scope, performance, scalability, security) in a fast-moving environment.

Offshore delivery leadership Act as the day-to-day technical and delivery lead for a team of engineers in India. Define and manage the work: break down features into clear tasks, estimate effort, set priorities and timelines, and track progress to ensure on-time delivery. Run or participate in ceremonies (stand-ups, planning, reviews) with the offshore team to keep work aligned and unblock issues quickly. Review and give feedback on the solutions and output from the outsourced team (designs, pull requests, implementation approaches). Ensure effective collaboration and communication across time zones between the UK team and the India-based team. Hands-on development (~50%)

Design, build and optimise the core journeys of our service using our tech stack:

Backend: Node (Sails.js) Frontend: Nuxt 3 (Vue) Data / Infra: MongoDB, AWS (Cognito, S3, SES, ECS etc.), Jenkins

• Take ownership of complex or high-impact pieces of work, especially where the architecture, integrations or performance considerations are non-trivial.
• Write high-quality, testable code and contribute to our continuous integration and deployment pipelines.
• Customer & partner collaboration
• Work closely with key customers and strategic partners (e.g. core integrations such as Iress Xplan) to co-design new product features and integrations.
• Join selected customer and partner calls as the technical lead – clarifying requirements, exploring solution options, and explaining technical constraints in plain language.
• Partner with the CPTO and product team to ensure customer feedback is translated into robust, scalable product capabilities and then into clear work packages for the offshore team.
• Technical ownership & continuous improvement

Take ownership of technical design and architectural decisions as part of a small, fast-moving team. Help evolve our platform architecture for performance, resilience, observability and security as we scale. Work with the outsourced partner to ensure agreed standards are met (tests, performance, security), without needing to build every process from scratch yourself. Identify and drive improvements to developer experience, tooling and internal processes (e.g. testing, release, monitoring, on-call), in collaboration with both in-house and outsourced engineers. Requirements Must have Degree in Computer Science or related developer education (e.g. a reputable coding bootcamp) or equivalent practical experience. 7+ years’ experience designing, developing, shipping and maintaining backend applications using Node/Sails.js and front-end web applications using modern JavaScript frameworks (ideally Vue/Nuxt.js), including operating at senior/lead level. Proven experience leading work delivered by offshore engineering teams, ideally India-based – including planning and prioritising work, running ceremonies/stand-ups, reviewing output, and ensuring on-time, high-quality delivery across time zones. Has previously acted as a tech lead for a small team, whether in-house or via an outsourced/offshore partner, with responsibility for delivery and technical decisions rather than line management. Strong experience working with MongoDB and AWS hosting/back-end services (e.g. Cognito, S3, SES). Experienced in designing, building and maintaining automated tests and contributing to CI pipelines. Has worked with other developers in an agile set-up (e.g. sprints, stand-ups, retros). Experienced in debugging and fixing live incidents in time-pressured situations, and in improving systems/processes to prevent recurrences. Experience of working with continuous deployment pipelines (you don’t have to build everything yourself, but should be comfortable working within and improving such setups). Strong understanding of industry trends and development best practices – especially regarding security, application performance and scalability. Has a strong sense of ownership, attention to detail and the ability to work independently with a team-oriented work ethic. Strong communication skills for effective teamwork and collaboration, and confidence interacting with customers and partners in a technical leadership capacity. Is proactive, initiates improvements, and offers assistance even without being asked. Comfortable in using AI code development tooling Right to work in the UK Nice to have Experience in B2B SaaS, ideally in fintech, wealthtech or other regulated industries. Experience integrating with CRM systems and/or financial platforms. Exposure to observability and monitoring tools (e.g. logging, metrics, tracing). Benefits Competitive salary + employee share options Remote-first work environment (UK-based team) with a collaborative team culture Regular team meet-ups to foster team synergy and alignment Work directly with the founding team – your leadership and decisions will have a visible, measurable impact An open, transparent work environment where your voice is valued and your contributions directly shape the company’s trajectoryClear growth path: as the business scales, you’ll have opportunities to expand your scope, ownership and influence How we hire Intro chat (30 mins) – with the founder Technical skills interview (60 mins). No prep required Coding test (60 mins)– practical case study. No prep required Final chat – with founders and a peer engineer Reference interviews – we insist on at least two Decisions typically within 7 days. Our Principles & Practices

We’re a UK based remote-first team guided by principles that shape how we work together and with our customers:

Celebrate Individuals, Build as a Team Focus on Foresight, Not Just Speed Be Human, Not Perfect Feedback is a Gift Believe in Each Other Grow Together Build with Boldness Customers First, Always Why Join Us? You won’t just be leading delivery – you’ll be helping reinvent how financial advisers and wealth managers serve their clients. In this role, you’ll shape the architecture of a rapidly scaling platform, coordinate a capable offshore team, and collaborate directly with strategic customers and partners on the next generation of features. You’ll join an ambitious team during a period of rapid growth, where every decision matters and every line of code moves the product forward.